What are the nutritional facts about chocolate?
Predominantly fat and sugar, with meaningful iron, magnesium and copper in the darker grades — and an energy density that no formulation changes much.
Emerging research
Real human studies exist and point somewhere, but the body of evidence is small, mixed, short-term or heavily industry-funded.
What the evidence shows
Food composition data consistently show chocolate to be energy-dense, with fat and carbohydrate as the principal macronutrients. Cocoa solids contribute measurable quantities of iron, magnesium, copper, manganese and potassium, so a high-percentage dark chocolate carries more of these per gram than a milk chocolate. Cocoa butter's fatty acid profile is roughly one third stearic acid, one third oleic acid and one third palmitic acid.
What it does not show
Mineral content per 100g does not establish that chocolate is a practical source of any mineral, because the portion required brings substantial energy with it. It also says nothing about the health effect of eating chocolate: composition is not outcome. The frequently cited point that stearic acid appears to have a broadly neutral effect on blood cholesterol relative to other saturated fats is a statement about one fatty acid, not an endorsement of chocolate.
The amount the finding rests on
Chocolate is energy-dense across all types, typically in the region of 500–600 kcal per 100g.
Cocoa butter is the main energy contributor, which is why sugar-free chocolate is not appreciably lower in energy than conventional chocolate.
In practice: A reader choosing sugar-free chocolate on energy grounds is likely to be disappointed: the sweetener changes, and the fat — which supplies most of the energy — does not.
How good is the evidence
Food composition data is the strongest evidence class in this catalogue's health section: it is measured rather than inferred, published by national food agencies, and not seriously contested. It is recorded at emerging_research rather than higher only because no source here has been passage-verified — a limitation of this catalogue's verification state, not of the underlying data.
Who this may not apply to
- Figures vary by formulation. Any specific product's panel is authoritative for that product and a general figure is not.
Related
Health topics
- Sugar in chocolateRead alongside What is actually in chocolate. The most reliably calculable fact on this page, and the one that most often goes unmentioned when chocolate is discussed as a health food.
- Cadmium and heavy metals in cacaoRead alongside What is actually in chocolate. Cacao takes up cadmium from soil, and levels vary by origin. Regulators have set limits. What the evidence does not support is either reassurance or alarm at the level most coverage pitches it.
Covered in
- Reading chocolate health claimsWhat is actually in the bar, as against what is claimed for it.
- Chocolate and low-carb dietsWhat is actually in a bar, with its evidence tier.
Health topics covering this
- Chocolate and exerciseRead alongside Chocolate and exercise. Predominantly fat and sugar, with meaningful iron, magnesium and copper in the darker grades — and an energy density that no formulation changes much.
- Chocolate cravingsRead alongside Chocolate cravings. Predominantly fat and sugar, with meaningful iron, magnesium and copper in the darker grades — and an energy density that no formulation changes much.
Sources
- FoodData Central — United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)
- The Science of Chocolate — Royal Society of Chemistry(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)
- ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)
Nothing on this page is health advice or dietary advice. See the editorial policy.